Home affairs official held for fraud
2013-01-12 07:06
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Johannesburg - An Isipingo home affairs department official
was arrested on Friday for allegedly participating in an insurance fraud scam,
KwaZulu-Natal police said.
The 29-year-old was the sixth person believed to be
involved in a syndicate which cashed in on other people's funeral policies, police
spokesperson Vincent Mdunge said in a statement.
The syndicate allegedly used living people's identity
documents to register them as deceased with home affairs.
One man's funeral policy, taken out with Momentum
insurance company, was defrauded of R50 000.
Police arrested the first alleged syndicate member,
Jackson Zungu, on 12 December in Pinetown.
John Mhlangu from Stanger, was arrested shortly after.
Mhlangu allegedly passed on the victim's particulars to
Zungu.
On 13 December, Sibongiseni Thabethe and Mbongeni Majola
were arrested in Durban.
Thabethe was arrested for a similar crime in October last
year and released on bail.
On 14 December, a fifth person, Patros Dlamini, was
arrested.
The home affairs official arrested on Friday allegedly
stole the relevant form from the department, then registered the living
person's details so a death certificate could be obtained.
When all the relevant documents were ready, the claim was
submitted and R50 000 was fraudulently obtained from the funeral policy.
The home affairs official would appear in the Durban
Magistrate's Court on Monday.
The other suspects appeared in the court previously. All
but one was granted R1 200 bail.
- SAPA
